Social Media, The Latest Addition to Business

Social Media. Its rise and growth is spreading at a rapid pace; Twitter, just one form of social media, is now growing at an astonishing 1,382% and its not alone; millions of users sign into their Facebook and MySpace accounts several times a day! If I received a penny for every time individuals accessed or used any form of social media, I'd easily be a millionaire, if not billionaire, by now. Social media has numerous forms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, Orkut, Photobucket, and blogging, of course. And with the ever-increasing pace of technology, social media is also changing with new forms and innovations for users to engage in.

Social media presents both challenges and opportunities for individuals and businesses. Social media certainly facilitates communication; an individual might have to wait hours upon hours for pictures to upload from her last vacation to email to various family members or she could simply upload them once onto Facebook or a photo-sharing media site, such as Flickr or Photobucket, for all of her contacts to see. However, the same user might upload thousands of pictures and create hundreds of albums and even add unknown people as friends thus losing her privacy and potentially risking her safety. Privacy and safety are two important issues concerning social media and users need to exercise immense caution as they incorporate social media into their lives. Users need to think twice about the content they post and make available for the world to see. It saddens me that I can know everything about complete strangers by spending less than two minutes on their Facebook profile. We need to stop making ourselves so transparent and vulnerable!

A number of businesses have also begun utilizing various forms of social media as a part of their regular routines and business strategies. At first I was skeptical about successes in business through social media, but with innovation, leadership, and effective execution, social media is quickly becoming interwoven within the infrastructures of a myriad of companies and business. The low cost associated with social media further encourages companies to make use of it. 

Research shows that there are various factors that lead to successful implementation of social media in organizations. I believe one of the key success factors is user-generated responses that allow a company to establish a two-way communication path and actually obtain usable and helpful  information from social media. Companies can create Facebook pages and add 'friends' or gain 'likes' but what benefit(s) does this have? Without feedback or involvement, its basically a dead end. However, by adding content and providing updates, user involvement can increase, generating responses, and potentially leading to information beneficial to the bottom line. A photographer could easily have a Facebook page and add friends, but only by uploading and sharing his portfolio and recent works on Facebook, and getting users to comment and generate interest will word spread about his services. 

But social media also has its costs and potential negativity. One such example is the Dominos Pizza incident in which employees messed with food being prepared for customers and then proceeded to post the video on YouTube; the incident shed much negative publicity on Dominos Pizza and many consumers, including myself, continue to question the food-preparation and management practices of the company. 

With social media being so powerful and persistent, companies and individuals need to carefully assess their level of involvement and usage with various forms of social media. Social media is sharing and often permanent. Both businesses and individuals need to be careful when employing any and all forms of social media; as with any other form of technology, there will be glitches.

Neuromarketing in Action!

I just remembered this scene from 'The Minority Report;" I think it serves as a great example of the creepy side and potential future we may be approaching...

Neuro-Marketing!

A myriad of companies invest millions of dollars on launching market campaigns in hopes of reaping profits and loyal consumers. While the field of marketing has embraced many changes in  recent years, forcing companies to change their approaches to marketing as a result of globalization, the Internet, and other factors, "Neuromarketing" seems to be a growing fad amongst companies and marketers alike. But what is neuromarketing and how did it emerge? Most importantly, what effect does marketing have on us, the consumers?


According to Pradeep, Hans Berger was the first scientist to develop sensors that collected electrical signals emerging from the human brain amd employ electroencephalography (EEG) measurements in the 1920s. Considering the intricate nature and continuing developments and research of the human brain, Berger's application of EEG was clearly well ahead of its time. The EEG measurements picking up the electrical signals of the brain can then be studied to determine an individual's liking, preference, interest, or even discontent with the product or service the individual is experiencing. Neuromarketing is very beneficial for companies and marketers who can now dwell deep into human minds and determine whether their products and services are actually satisfying consumers and what elements of a product are important to consumers.


According to Forbes, numerous companies today are already making successful and lucrative use of neuromarketing, including Google, Hyundai, Microsoft, Disney, and Chevron. One use of neuromarketing that I found particularly interesting was by Frito Lay, a subunit of Pepsico. Executives at Frito Lay abandoned shiny packaging with pictures of  potato chips after their neuromarketing revealed that beige packaging with pictures of potatoes and healthy ingredients stimulated less activity in a region of the brain associated with feelings of guilt; what an interesting way to combat the guilt of consumers watching their waistlines and opting for healthier snacking options. Frito Lay also conducted neuromarketing and traditional focus groups for a commercial for Cheetos. The participants in the focus group viewed a commerical but claimed to not like the commercial possibly because they felt admitting liking the commercial would make them appear mean and cunning to other focus group participants. Nevertheless, neuromarketing revealed otherwise and the EEG tests showed that the female participants in the focus group liked the ad which pushed Frito Lay to begin airing the commercial.

Executives at Frito Lay abandoned shiny packaging with pictures of  potato chips after their neuromarketing revealed that beige packaging with pictures of potatoes and healthy ingredients stimulated less activity in a region of the brain associated with feelings of guilt

Neuromarketing makes sense but it is also raises several questions and concerns. Notably, neuromarketing is effective and beneficial for companies but it diminishes the barricade of privacy for consumers. Being able to see what is and what is not effective to the consumer mind grants companies even greater power in terms of marketing and sales. As a consumer, I like being able to test the effectiveness of a marketing campaign of a company and deciding whether or not to purchase something. As a human being, I prefer to share only certain thoughts and interests with others. For individuals considering taking part in any neuromarketing test, please ponder whether you'd really like for companies can dig deeper into your brain to retrieve information that you weren't willing to share...

Cheers for now,
Summia